For whatever reason, Nelson Freire has not gotten the same sustained attention as his friend, Martha Argerich, or some of his other contemporaries (Richard Goode and Murray Perahia both graduated from conservatory the year Freire made his major-label debut). The liner notes to this box set take a tack similar to those found in the liner notes of Don McLean's excellent, live Solo album: that the lack of attention is willful on the part of an artist who doesn't want to play the "fame game." Whether this is the true, or even the only, reason is anyone's guess; it ultimately doesn't matter the cause(s). Hopefully with the release of this collection, Freire will once again gain some much-deserved prominence.

Freire's recording of Brahms's terrific Capriccio in B Minor, from the op. 76 Klavierstücke, sampled here, has been my hands-down favorite recording of the piece for decades. It was impossible to find on CD for a very long time, however. Thankfully, Sony decided last year to release this lovely 7-CD collection of Freire's complete Columbia recordings. The Brahms is included on a disc dedicated to his work, along with a good mix, on the other discs, of works by other heavy hitters, including Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Schumann, Liszt, Schubert, and Chopin.